


Don't Worry About It

by EmeraldSands



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I wrote this for me but y'all can read it if you want, M/M, Sickfic, This is so soft, Whump, like how two negatives make a positive two jerks somehow turns out sweet, or something like that? I'm a "can't do math" queer so don't quote me on it, rated solely because Gary refuses to watch his mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:55:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25193533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldSands/pseuds/EmeraldSands
Summary: When Gary doesn't show up for a date, Drew goes looking for him to get some kind of explanation out of him, and it turns out he's got a fair excuse--he's sick. He's clearly not taking care of himself, so Drew takes care of him.
Relationships: Ookido Shigeru | Gary Oak/Shuu | Drew
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Don't Worry About It

**Author's Note:**

> You would not believe how long this sat 99% finished among my WIPs. It's been months. I started this in December, had it nearly finished in... February, I think? Then the pandemic happened and suddenly I wasn't really in the mood to write sickfic. I still feel a little weird about it honestly, but these are the circumstances we're living in now and I need my fluffy low-stakes hurt/comfort.
> 
> For those following Something New: chapter five will be out at some point, though I can't say for sure when because of how heavily I'm having to revise. Bear with me.
> 
> For those not following Something New: check it out if you're into RespectShipping, it's been my passion project for years and sharing it with the world is the most exciting and terrifying thing I've done in my life. Or don't, it's whatever.
> 
> I take prompts on Tumblr @ respectful-ramblings if you want to give me an excuse to write more oneshots.

Drew tapped his foot, growing impatient, and looked to his left and to his right again. Still no sign of him.

Gary had been annoying Drew on a regular basis since shortly after they met, but usually in a way that wrapped back around to being oddly endearing. This, however--making Drew wait outside this café for half an hour, when stopping in Canalave already had him behind schedule, when he was struggling in the Sinnoh contest circuit more than he wanted to admit and couldn't afford losing much time--was not endearing in the slightest.

Apparently Gary was on the verge of some breakthrough, something that'd really impress Professor Rowan, and despite typically caring more for field research than hitting the books, had taken off for Canalave's library astride his arcanine in search of some information he hadn't been able to find elsewhere. Which meant if Drew had any hope of finding the jerk and getting an explanation out of him, that was probably the place to look.

Bracing himself against a too-cold breeze and making a mental note to get a thicker jacket or a scarf or something, he headed in the direction he was fairly sure the library was. Despite all his experience with navigating city streets, he made an embarrassing number of wrong turns--which he blamed on the distraction of the chill nipping his ears and frustration simmering in his gut--before he found it.

It wasn't much warmer inside than it was outside, but at least it was a reprieve from the breeze. That did little to improve his mood, and several patrons glanced his way as he passed them--whether recognizing his face or his emotions or both, he didn't care to figure out.

Drew finally spotted the familiar lanky figure slumped over a table, arms shielding his face. Books, documents, and pages of notes in his lazy scrawl were scattered around where he rested, and his umbreon dozed at his feet--or so it seemed until ears twitched and alert crimson eyes blinked open. Umbreon got up and padded to Drew, greeting him with a soft, "Bree!"

"Hey, Umbreon." Drew ran his fingers through Umbreon's well-groomed fur. "Your trainer's an idiot."

To Drew's slight amusement, Gary's partner nodded in agreement. But then he turned around and went back to said trainer, which was odd; like Gary himself, Umbreon loved having someone's--and particularly Drew's--undivided attention, so something had to be up for him to turn away from it.

Drew followed Umbreon to Gary's side and Umbreon looked up at him with a whimper, eyes almost pleading. In an attempt to wake him, Drew went to shake his shoulder, only to flinch at the unexpected heat. No wonder Umbreon was worried--he was burning up.

"Gare, I know you think it's funny to call yourself the hottest thing in the room, but this is absurd." He tried again, prepared for the heat this time, gently shaking Gary's shoulder. "Hey, please wake up."

"Wha'?" Gary raised his head off the table, clearly dazed and blinking sleep from his eyes. He sounded horrible. He looked at Drew and realization dawned on his pale, flushed face. "Am I late for our thing? Gee, Drew, I'm sorry."

Apologizing and calling Drew by his actual name in the same sentence? Drew's anger faded and fear took its place. "You're freaking me out, Gare. Seriously. Forget our coffee date and forget all this, I'm taking you to bed this instant."

"At least buy me dinner first," Gary said with mock scandalization.

"You know that's not what I--" Drew realized he didn't want to dignify whatever that was with a response. "Important question. Can you stand up?"

To Gary's credit, he managed to stand--though he held onto the edge of the table for support with one hand and clutched his stomach with the other, paling and swallowing hard.

"Please don't hurl in here," Drew said, quickly grabbing Gary's notes. "These floors are probably a hassle to clean and they might not let you back in."

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Good." If he was being honest, Drew didn't want to deal with that situation either; the thought brought an all-too familiar tightness to his chest, but he wasn't about to say that. He took Gary's hand and led the way out, Umbreon flanking Gary's other side.

"So we're holding hands now? Nice." How was Gary remotely enjoying this? "How's the coordinating been going? I've been too busy to stay caught up with it all."

"That's easily the least important thing right now," Drew told him, partly because it was true and partly to avoid having to confess the coordinating wasn't going well. One problem at a time, and Gary working himself sick was the more pressing one. "What I'd like to know is have you eaten, or made any other attempt at taking care of yourself?"

"I--"

"Coffee doesn't count, and espresso shots _double_ don't count."

"Then no."

Drew couldn't even begin to express his exasperation. Sometimes he wondered how Gary had survived this long. "You're lucky you've got me, then."

This was a terrible set of circumstances, Drew realized, but it couldn't be helped. Gary needed him, so the training and contests would have to be put on hold for now.

Drew tried to maintain an air of poised calm as he led the way to the pokémon center where he'd been staying, but he was getting more nervous by the second. Gary had gone worryingly quiet, silent apart from the occasional cough or sniffle, and Gary was never quiet for this long.

They were nearly there when Gary spoke up again. "You might wanna look away a minute."

That cryptic warning didn't prepare Drew for when Gary turned to empty his stomach into a bush. Oh no.

By the time Drew had fought the panic building in his chest enough to move, Gary was standing beside him again, as calm as if nothing had happened.

"Well, that sucked," he remarked casually. "Good thing you looked away when I told you to, right?" A pause, viridian eyes studying Drew's face for some kind of answer. "Right?"

Drew didn't respond, instead grabbing Gary's hand again and continuing to lead the way. Gary seemed a little less steady on his feet, and Drew was prepared to make an attempt at catching him if he lost his footing.

"Sweet, we're holding hands again." Gary flashed a grin, seeming almost like himself. Then he gave Drew an accusatory look. "But you didn't look away, did you? I warned you for a reason and you didn't listen."

At least he was back to being talkative.

* * *

Gary really should've figured that subsisting on caffeine and a prayer to something he didn't particularly believe in would come back to bite him, but did it have to bite him so hard?

Now he was being tucked into bed like a little kid by one of the cutest boys he'd ever met, listening to said boy mutter to himself like a passive-aggressive mother hen about symptoms and what they could mean and what to do about it, which it was hard not to have some mixed feelings about. "You don’t have to tuck me into this bed like I'm eight years old, Shrub."

Drew huffed. "Shut it, nerd. I'm doing this because the harder it is for you to get up, the more likely I can leave you alone for a minute without you trying to go back to your work."

"Relax, dear paranoid plant. I'm not going anywhere." Gary meant it; inertia and caffeine had been keeping him going this long and now that he'd run out of both, he no longer felt remotely up to it. He'd resigned himself to this situation and all he wanted to do was sleep and soak up Drew's rare undivided attention.

Drew raised an eyebrow, clearly not fully convinced, but his expression softened a bit. He looked to Umbreon. "He's your trainer and I doubt you want him to suffer, so I'm trusting you to make sure this disaster stays put."

"Hey, I'm right here!" Gary protested. "I'm sick, not deaf!"

Umbreon hopped onto the bed and settled at Gary's side, intelligent gaze trained on him. He scratched behind his partner's ears while Drew went to do whatever Drew had decided was important.

"No matter what Shrub says, I mean it when I say I don't plan on leaving this spot."

Umbreon's eyes closed, but the twitching of his ears betrayed that he was still very much on the alert.

"Really?" Gary put a hand on his chest, wounded. "You're siding with him over the guy who raised you?"

Umbreon licked Gary's hand and gave him a nuzzle and, while he didn’t need the charity, he had to admit it was appreciated.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Drew was at his side again, now with a dripping cloth in hand. "This should help with bringing that fever of yours down."

The cloth running along his face felt nice, he would admit that. It sure was a humbling position to be in--not quite as humbling as the time he'd been knocked out by some nightmare beast of a pokémon at the Viridian City gym and then woken up in his lifelong rival's arms, but definitely up there--but he let himself relax into it.

Drew left it to rest on Gary's neck. "Stay with me a little longer, Gare. We've gotta get something in your system that isn't caffeinated. You think you could eat something?"

"Please?" Gary's voice came out sounding so much smaller than he'd expected it to, and he didn't miss the flash of alarm on Drew's face. He'd have to make some snide remarks once he could think of any to compensate for that, but he was so tired.

Drew nodded. "Okay, I'll be back in a minute. Just hang in there… and maybe stop trying to use your voice. It's not working out for you."

Before Gary could come up with a clever retort, Drew left the room. Rude.

He rolled over onto his side to drape an arm over Umbreon and bury his face in soft dark fur. A coughing fit racked his body and he didn't have the energy to do much more than let it. At least he didn't have to worry about getting too comfortable--no matter what, his coughing was bound to keep him awake long enough.

Umbreon didn't seem bothered by it, only uttering a concerned, "Umbree?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Gary assured him. "We've dealt with worse than this, remember?"

Umbreon made a low noise--he clearly didn't like that response, but it seemed he wasn't in the mood to argue about it. That, or he didn't want Gary trying to argue about it.

Gary heard the door open, followed by Drew's tentative voice. "You guys still awake?"

He pushed himself upright and tried to reply, only to cough instead.

"Oh, ouch. Your throat must be killing you," Drew said with what might've been either exasperation or pity. He indicated the bowl he was carrying. "This should help with that. You can handle a little broth, right?"

"There's nothing I can't handle," Gary said as confidently as he could manage, moving over (and Umbreon following suit) enough that Drew could sit on the bed with him. Drew positioned himself on the edge of it and held out the bowl.

Sheepishly, Gary admitted, "I might need a little help."

"Oh. Of course." Why did Drew look so nervous? Gary was the one putting his dignity aside here!

"Just so you know," Gary said casually, "as awkward and embarrassing as this may feel to you, it's probably ten times more to me. Just to put things into perspective."

Drew tilted his head. "I didn't know you were capable of feeling either of those things."

"I have a reputation," Gary said with a casual shrug. "Now can we please just get this over with?"

"Okay, okay." Drew picked up the spoon and then froze.

"You know how to use a spoon, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Drew huffed. "You're the one who can't right now, just… give me a second."

"Wow," Gary said, a weak laugh stinging his throat. "Harsh."

There was a strange sort of comfort in knowing Drew was self-conscious about this too. Not that Gary was about to admit it.

If anyone could see them now, they'd hardly be recognizable as a graceful coordinator whose whole career was built on showing off onstage and a confident, cool-headed researcher; right now they were just teenagers--one boy timidly feeding the other broth he was too congested to taste, both unable to meet the other's eyes.

They managed to get through the entire bowl before Gary sank under the covers, spent. His throat wasn't bugging him as much now; maybe he could finally rest.

* * *

Drew was already tired. But Gary was sleeping peacefully, which meant he had at least one less thing to worry about.

The only time Gary could be counted on to be still and quiet was in sleep. He slept silently when he was well, and even now, when he definitely wasn't, only emitted the occasional sniffle and a snore soft enough to be mistaken for the pokémon close beside him purring.

Drew set the empty bowl aside--his patient's appetite wasn't a concern, he had that going for him--and reached over to run his fingers through Umbreon's fur. "Gary's lucky he has the two of us, eh?"

Umbreon raised his head to chirp what sounded like an agreement before nuzzling close to his trainer's chest again. The sight of the two warmed Drew's heart; for all Gary's faults, he was so loved. Did he know that? Considering his ego, he probably did.

Drew honestly hoped so.

He rested a hand on Gary's cheek, thumbing away a bead of sweat--the fever didn't seem to be climbing, but it wasn't going down either. He had to wonder just how long Gary had been fighting this before he showed up for it to get this bad. It couldn't have been that long, could it? Gary had seemed fine when they'd spoken on the phone a couple days ago--alert and energetic, confidently suggesting Drew needed a break and a coffee date would be perfect, seemingly both shocked and delighted when he'd agreed to it.

In hindsight, Gary's entire demeanor had read of overcompensating, acting like nothing could possibly be wrong to cover up what now clearly was. And like a fool, Drew had been too caught up in the euphoria of hearing the word _date_ used seriously to notice.

Drew shook his head to dismiss the useless train of thought; nothing he could do about the past except try to make up for it now.

Worrying made him restless; he itched to be doing something useful, but he was never sure what to do in situations like this. Taking care of his pokémon was one thing--something he'd been doing for years now and was definitely good at--taking care of the boy he had an embarrassingly strong crush on was another.

Gary stirred, letting out a few weary coughs and a frustrated sigh, then muttered a very strongly worded complaint about his inability to even sleep decently. Propping himself up on an elbow, he looked up at Drew. "You're still here."

"'Course I am," Drew said. "You've already proven you won't take care of yourself, and there's only so much Umbreon here can do for you without opposable thumbs--no offense, Umbreon."

"Bree-breon," Umbreon replied with a casual flick of his ears. One ear hit Gary in the face, and Drew couldn't help wondering if that was intentional.

"He says, 'None taken,'" Gary said helpfully, stroking his partner's head before looking at Drew again. "You're still pissed at me." Not a question, not an accusation. A casual observation.

"Not as… angry as I was," Drew admitted. "You're kind of too pitiful to stay mad at now. Whatever this is hit you pretty hard."

"Eh, I've been through worse." That wasn't even remotely reassuring. With a sly grin, he added, "At least this time I have a cute boy's attenti--ah--" His attempt at flirting was thwarted by a remarkably tiny sneeze. The feverish flush that was already present on his face deepened.

Drew typically rolled his eyes at Gary's ridiculous flirting attempts, but having it interrupted like that--and that reaction--was actually undeniably cute. "Aww, you sneeze like a skitty."

With a dramatic sigh, Gary buried his face in a pillow. "Must you mock me in my time of weakness?"

Even with his face covered, his red ears were a dead giveaway to what he was trying to hide. Drew resisted the temptation to say so.

"You're so dramatic sometimes," he said instead, rolling his eyes entirely for Umbreon's benefit. "You could almost rival Harley."

Gary raised his head again (his blush unfortunately faded) to give Drew an indignant look. "That cacturne fursuiter?"

"I don't think it's technically a _fur_ suit, since cacturne don't have fur--"

"Beside the point."

"--but yeah. That's the guy."

"Harley's a _GUY?_ " Raising his voice was enough to set off a coughing fit. Drew patiently rubbed circles on his back until it subsided.

"Easy there, nerd. We'll have _that_ conversation another time." Drew got the feeling Gary's throat was practically tearing itself apart; he was entirely too much of a talker for his own good, and Drew hated having to ask him questions. "Can I get you anything for that cough?"

"Now that you mention it, there was this tea my gramps made whenever I got sick like this back home, but I--" he paused to cough again, wincing like it hurt "--can't for the life of me remember what it's called."

"My moms know plants, so I might've heard of it." Drew was already going through the list in the back of his mind of every remedy he could remember his moms mentioning, wishing he'd paid more attention. "Can you describe it at all?"

Gary gave Drew a look. "I was getting to that." He cleared his throat. "It tasted kind of… flowery, if you know what I mean? And it always knocked me out cold--I think sometimes he just wanted to shut me up and we all know that's pretty much the only way to do it." There was a ghost of a smile on his face and a flicker of humor in his eyes. He was self-aware, Drew gave him credit for that. "I'm pretty sure the name started with a C, also. So? Any of that ring any bells?"

"You mean chamomile?"

Gary broke into a grin. "That's the bitch!"

"Language," Drew chided him.

"Coward," Gary retorted.

"Anyway," Drew said, deftly getting back on-subject, "I can do that. You'll be okay if I leave you?"

"Of course," Gary said confidently. "I've got Umbreon here, don't even worry about it."

"Breon," Umbreon affirmed.

Everything was going to be fine, then. That was what Drew would keep telling himself.

* * *

Gary was not fine, but all things considered, he thought he was doing a pretty good job of pretending--even if trying to keep up his usual banter with Drew was taking a lot out of him. He'd even managed to push himself into a sitting position while Drew was gone.

There was no fooling Umbreon, who probably wouldn't be leaving his side any time soon, but that was fine; with the sudden chill that had come over him, he was grateful for the warmth. He also had Drew's attention and reasonable concern without setting off the poor guy's anxiety, which was a win-win.

At least that was what he'd keep telling himself.

Drew returned with a mug in hand, and maybe Gary was delirious, but he had no business looking as perfect as he did--not a verdant hair out of place, eyes as bright as a sunlit forest canopy, and was he wearing eyeliner?

Then Gary remembered they were supposed to have gone on a date--a date he'd missed because he'd gotten caught up in his work and then given out from exhaustion at the worst time--and the subsequent pang of guilt caused him to blurt out, "I'm sorry."

"Gare?" Drew's voice was brimming with concern even in one syllable. The facade had shattered. He was at Gary's side in an instant, caressing a cheek with his free hand, no doubt checking for a rising fever. "Hey. No. Don't apologize for any of this."

"But our--"

"I told you to forget about that," Drew said firmly. "Don't worry about it, just drink this."

Gary complied, albeit more shakily than his pride would've liked for him to. Without a word, Drew's hands wrapped around his to help, gentle and patient. Suddenly he felt warm again.

"Shrub… Drew, I should say… I guess I should thank you." His throat was killing him, but he'd learned tenacity over self-preservation from the best and nothing would stop him from saying what he wanted to say. "It's sweet of you to put your coordinating aside and stick around to help me through this."

"I can't just leave someone I care about to suffer, now, can I?" Drew's eyes widened and he looked away with a hint of a blush, apparently recognizing too late the tenderness of what he'd just said. "I mean, wouldn't you do the same for me?"

"Hell yeah," Gary answered without a moment's hesitation. Drew's blush deepened. It was comforting to know he could still get Drew flustered in these circumstances--he still had it.

Drew looked at him again. "Your lack of antagonism here is making me more nervous by the second."

"Don't be." Gary found the strength to playfully punch Drew's arm. "I'm not dying, Shrub. I'll be fine."

"Okay, there's a little of it." Drew might've relaxed a bit. "But don't push yourself too hard, overachiever. You've done enough of that already."

How cute of him to care. He was admittedly right, and Gary was content to hand over the cup and sink under the blankets, burying his face in the soft darkness of Umbreon's fur.

"Wow," Drew said. "Didn't expect it to be that easy."

"Enjoy it while it lasts, I never make things easy for long."

Drew's laugh was a pleasant sound. Even better was when he rested a hand between Gary's shoulder blades and started tracing small circles--a gentle, rhythmic movement. "I will. Sleep well, Gare."

Gary had a feeling he would.

* * *

Drew doubted he'd ever been more relieved in his life than when he realized Gary had fallen into a deep, healing sleep. He rested a palm on Gary's cheek, checking for the tenth time of the hour for any significant change. The fever hadn't broken yet, but it didn't seem as high as it had been earlier in the day.

With any luck, he'd sleep through the night and be closer to okay in the morning.

Drew muffled his twentieth yawn of the hour and accepted the reality that he needed rest too. Gary's condition seemed stable enough, and Umbreon was close enough to notice and alert him if anything did change. He could rest.

But he wasn't about to crowd into the same bed, so he went to the one on the other side of the room. Finally giving in to his exhaustion, sleep took him within minutes.

It didn't last long enough. Sharp teeth nipped his ear and he was instantly awake--more or less. "Ow! What the heck?"

"Bree! Umbree!" Umbreon jumped off Drew's bed and paced in a frantic circle before rushing to his trainer's bed. Drew followed, alarm jolting him to full consciousness--something had to be up for Gary's cool-headed partner to be so agitated.

Gary was still sleeping, but not peacefully--curled in on himself and whimpering, either terribly distressed or in pain. Drew went to shake his shoulder and almost flinched at the heat radiating off him--of course his fever had spiked. "Gare, hey, wake up!"

Drew barely had time to react to fists swinging at him; he hadn't expected to be lashed out at like that. "Whoa! Relax, it's me!" Against his better judgment and despite the weak, clumsily aimed punches continuing, he pulled Gary close so he could lower his voice to a murmur. "It's okay, it's just me. I'm not gonna hurt you, Gare, look at me."

Gary blinked dazedly at him, dark eyes clouded by a feverish haze. "Shrub?"

"I've told you a thousand times to stop calling me that," Drew said with combined fondness, exasperation, and relief. His Gary was still there.

"Oh, it _is_ you!" Gary practically melted into Drew's arms, trembling violently even as he gave off waves of intense heat. He mumbled incoherently into Drew's shoulder, a lot of words Drew couldn't make heads or tails of. A brief glance at Umbreon's resigned expression made it clear this had happened before.

"Shh," Drew soothed. "It's okay, don't worry, I've got you." He had to bring this fever down fast. Once Gary had calmed down a little, he'd have to go fetch ice and the strongest fever reducer Nurse Joy would trust a teenager with.

For now, all he could do was fumble for Gary's hand and hold it until they both stopped trembling so much.

* * *

Gary awoke tangled in a heap with Drew and Umbreon, a cold compress that was no longer remotely cold near his head, and found he had very little memory of the night before. Bright sunlight lit up the room; Drew, who had once claimed to always rise with the sun, was snoring--dead to the world.

To be fair, though, it seemed Gary had slept through the morning too. And Gary wasn't the only one who had been working entirely too hard lately--Drew deserved and probably needed all the rest he could get.

Muffling a cough that fortunately didn't wake either of his companions, Gary detangled himself from the two and managed to get into a sitting position. How had they all ended up like this anyway?

Hard as he tried, he couldn't remember. Maybe it didn't matter. Drew was here, comfortable enough to be sleeping right beside him, and he wasn't about to look a gift ponyta in the mouth.

Umbreon stirred, stretching and yawning adorably, and barked a cheerful greeting. Gary scratched behind his partner's ears. "Good morning to you too--or whatever time it is."

"'Morning, Gare." Drew's voice was thick with sleep. He'd halfway woken up, then. He propped himself up on an elbow, blinking drowsily--Gary had thought he looked perfect before, but somehow with hair askew, half-lidded eyes, and a trail of drool along his cheek, Drew had never looked more beautiful.

"'Noon' might be more accurate," Gary pointed out. "You always rise with the sun, huh?"

"That doesn't apply when I've spent half the night looking after some feverish trainwreck," Drew said nonchalantly, yawning into his hand. "I take it you're feeling better?"

"Relatively speaking." Gary was no longer burning up or racked with chills, he could halfway breathe, and talking wasn't agony; he was on the mend.

A hint of a smile appeared on Drew's face. "I'm glad to hear it. You gave me quite a scare last night, you know that?"

"I did?" That explained the crowded sleeping arrangement, but it also raised some questions.

"I guess you wouldn't remember that." Drew frowned. "Umbreon woke me up during the night to let me know your fever had spiked. You were so delirious I had to calm you down before I could get anything to cool you off. After that, I stayed up with you until your fever broke."

"Oh. Thanks for that." To keep things from getting too sappy, Gary added, "You drool in your sleep, by the way. Not sure if you've noticed."

Judging by Drew's mortified expression, he hadn't. He wiped at his face. "Well, that's a little embarrassing."

"Eh, don't sweat it." Gary put his hands behind his head in a languid stretch. "We've both had some embarrassment here, so it all cancels out and we both get to keep our egos."

Drew seemed to process that. "I'm not sure I follow your logic, but I'll take it."

"You should," Gary said. "I am a scientist, after a--" a sneeze interrupted him. When would he be able to smooth-talk uninterrupted again? He saw the grin on Drew's face and responded with a warning glare, daring Drew to make another comment about him sounding like a skitty.

Drew was kind enough to contain his laughter (and skitty-related remarks), even if it was clearly a struggle for him. "Okay, nerd."

"So, about that date…"

"Once you're well again," Drew said. "We can go out and get some coffee or something together before we go our separate ways."

Gary was getting his crush's undivided attention now and an actual date later? Forget the eighteen gyms he'd beaten as a trainer, this was his greatest victory. "Works for me."


End file.
